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More Blair lies on Iraq and Libya

This clip shows Tony Blair lying in the British Houses of Parliament. It includes the famous lie about Iraq’s ability to use weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. A claim based on fabricated intelligence.

A TV documentary has cast doubt on one of the key claims used by Tony Blair and George Bush to justify the invasion of Iraq.

In early March 2003, Blair and Bush trumpeted the fact – supposed fact – that Libya‘s leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, had offered to give up his WMD programme.

They implied that it was possible to avoid war if countries were prepared to end the production of chemical and nuclear weapons.

However, according to the man appointed as Britain’s defence co-ordinator with Libya, Gaddafi’s forces did not have any WMD capability.

Major-General Robin Searby said Libya‘s military capacity was primitive. He said on an Al-Jazeera English documentary: “I think they [the Libyans] tried very hard.

“I think they tried to make things fly which would go a few yards then explode or turn round and head straight back towards them, and I have no knowledge of any biological programme.”

Searby was speaking on a documentary called State of Denial, which was first screened last night and is due to be shown again in coming days (see schedule here).

It was Blair who brokered the deal with Gaddafi that brought the dictator back into the international fold. At the time, Blair said:

“If a country is prepared to… give up chemical and nuclear weapons capability… we should be willing to open up to that and give them the hand of partnership and show that, when they do that, they get a proper response – they get a relationship which is normalised.”

So normal did relations become that Searby was appointed in order to advise and train members of Gaddafi’s army at Sandhurst.

Ten percent of the seats in a proposed Libyan constituent assembly will be reserved for women, a draft electoral law published on Monday said, triggering harsh reaction from a human rights watchdog: here.

Incoming UN security council president Baso Sangqu called on Wednesday for an investigation into human rights abuses committed during Nato’s bombing campaign on Libya: here.

Hundreds of armed Libyan soldiers took to the streets of Benghazi on Thursday to demand that the government cough up overdue wages and rein in the paramilitary forces that have taken over their bases: here.

A Libyan military commander suing Britain for alleged complicity in his rendition and torture has refused to take part in the Gibson detainee inquiry because its powers are “seriously deficient”: here.

TRIPOLI — Libya on Sunday clarified that the review of contracts of Italian oil major ENI signed with the previous regime of Moamer Kadhafi will not involve its oil and gas deals.

“To avoid confusion, the ventures to be reviewed and revised are sustainable development projects listed in the memorandum of understanding between ENI and Libya,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

“Oil and gas agreements are not affected” by the review, the statement added.

On Thursday, a statement quoting Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib had said that Libya will review its contracts with ENI, triggering reports that the oil and gas deals of the energy major would also fall under the review.

According to that statement, Kib informed ENI Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni that “the contracts signed between ENI and the former regime are going to be reviewed and re-examined to meet Libya’s interests before being executed.”

Soon after Kib’s statement an ENI spokesman told AFP that the contracts Kib’s office was talking about were unrelated to the Italian firm’s oil production activities.

“The two contracts are linked to social initiatives and have nothing to do with oil,” the spokesman said.

In December, Scaroni said in Doha it was “unthinkable” that his company’s existing contracts would be changed by the new Libyan authorities.

But on Thursday Kib said that foreign companies, including ENI, have to prove their loyalty to Libyans by “playing a significant role in the reconstruction of the cities destroyed by Kadhafi’s forces.”

Kadhafi’s ouster has created opportunities for companies hoping to see a redistribution of oil contracts to the benefit of countries which took part in the military campaign to overthrow the long-time dictator, threatening existing contracts.

ENI has resumed production of about 70 percent of its pre-conflict output in Libya, of around 200,000 barrels per day.

The company has been in Libya — a former Italian colony — since 1959 and is the biggest foreign energy producer in the oil-rich North African country.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is visiting Tripoli on January 21 with the aim of reviving a bilateral friendship treaty, signed by Kadhafi and Monti’s predecessor Silvio Berlusconi, that was suspended during this year’s conflict in Libya.